Kieru Kaeru
by Kage NoTenshi
Summary: Can't Think of anything without spoiling the end... oh, well Read it and find out. (complete)
1. Illusions?

Disclaimer: Nope don't own it. Ryuuko is mine though. Hands off. 

Warning: Contains spoilers. So if you haven't seen the movie and don't want to know the ending don't read.My first Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi fic, so forgive me if I went a little overboard on the foreshadowing and déjà vu, ne? Constructive criticism welcome, flames will be dumped in the Kohakugawa. BTW, Kieru means "to disappear," and kaeru means "to return home." 

@_#

"Ryuuko! Did you finish your homework?"

The dark-haired child turned back just as she reached the door. "Yeah! I'm going out into the yard!"

"It's getting dark out," her mother's voice responded from upstairs.

"I know." Ryuuko slipped out into the back yard. It was quiet out there, no little brother making chaos, no school nagging from her desk, just the night air. She smiled, breathing in the smell of coming dusk and relishing the feel of cool grass beneath her feet. Somewhere a frog croaked to the stars. _Kero…kero…kero…_ She considered calling back to it, but last time that had happened, one of the neighbors had overheard. With a sigh, Ryuuko sat down on the ground and closed her eyes. The rhythms of the night began all around her: the teasing breezes, the chirping crickets. She strained her ears, trying to hear the stars coming out. Her little brother had said he had heard it once, and she didn't quite believe him. Still, it was worth a try. They probably sounded nice and sort of silvery.

Then a new sound broke the pattern. It was soft and delicate, almost fitting in, but not quite. It was the slight cracking of twigs under furtively stepping feet. Ryuuko jumped up and found herself staring into another face. It was a boy's face, and he seemed quite as startled as she was. He had dark hair that didn't quite reach his shoulders and piercing green eyes. His clothes were of a normal style, a plain white T-shirt and light blue shorts. "Wh…who?" she gasped out. "What are you doing here?"

He slowly backed away, his eyes wide.

"Wait! What do you want?"

He stopped for a moment. His hand slowly touched his chest, just above his heart, and his eyes went sad. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but a sudden light from an opening door caught them both by surprise. "Ryuuko! Time for a bath!"

"Ye…yes…" Ryuuko turned to respond for a moment. When she looked back, the strange boy was gone. "That's weird…" She blinked at the place he had been standing for a moment, but he didn't reappear. She was about to go inside when she saw something. It was on the ground where he had been, but she couldn't tell what it was. It was smooth and white and hard, a sort of triangular shape about three centimeters to a side. She ran her fingers over it, the feeling that it was important growing inside of her. 

"RYUUKO!"

She jumped and scurried into the house, slipping the thing into her pocket on the way. That night, while her hair still dripped a little from the bath, she pulled the thing she had found out of the pocket of her shorts before putting them into the wash. She stared at it for a while, puzzling. She clutched it in her palm and pulled the curtains away from the window. The moon was full, staring down at her and glittering on the surface of the swimming pool below. Slowly, she opened her hand. The thing glowed in the moonlight, so faintly that she wasn't sure if it was the moon or a light of its own. "I wonder who he was…"

The next day she walked to school with her friend Tomo as usual. "Hey, is there anyone new in the neighborhood?" she asked suddenly.

Tomo looked puzzled. "No, not that I've heard of. Why?"

"I saw someone I didn't know last night. He was about my age and size, dark shoulder-length hair…"

Tomo shook her head. "Never seen or heard of him. Where'd you see him?"

"He was in my back yard."

"No!"

"Yes. He seemed…scared almost, and maybe a little sad."

"How weird."

"Yeah."

"Well, I'll ask around if I think of it."

"Thanks. It's no big deal. He didn't seem like he'd hurt anything."

"Oh…what was he wearing?"

"A T-shirt, I think…white…"

"That doesn't help me much."

"No, sorry." Ryuuko fingered the thing she had found the night before. Why she had stuck it in her uniform pocket, she didn't know. It's shape reminded her of something, although she couldn't quite think what. Suddenly, it hit her. It reminded her of flower petals, the broad kind, only it was hard. For an instant, she thought she saw hundreds of the thing blowing in a strong wind past her, through her hair and into a delicious emptiness of pure air behind her. Then she blinked and shook her head, her ponytail flicking back and forth behind her. It all disappeared.

Tomo glanced at her. "What is it?"

"I…I don't know." She brushed a hand across her eyes. "It's nothing."

"You losing it?" asked Tomo with a laugh.

"Heh. Maybe."

"So we have a kanji quiz today, right?"

"Yeah. I'm ready. Are you?"

"Yep. It shouldn't be hard."

"Nah."

As they approached school and readied for the day, all thoughts of strangeness left Ryuuko for the time being. It wasn't until lunch that she remembered. She was sitting with Tomo and Asako when suddenly she almost dropped her chopsticks. "There he is," she whispered, her eyes wide. Standing at the other end of the schoolyard was the boy again. He was looking directly at her.

"Who?"

"The boy. He's standing over by the big tree."

Tomo and Asako both looked. "I don't see anyone."

"Me neither."

"But he's right there. He's got the white T-shirt and everything."

Tomo looked seriously worried. "Ryuuko, there's nothing there. Are you sure you're feeling fine?"

"I'm not insane! Can't you see him?" Ryuuko almost cried out, grasping Tomo's shoulder.

Tomo gently removed her friend's hand. "It's okay, Ryuuko. That test was a little harder than we thought it would be, wasn't it?"

Ryuuko looked back towards the tree. "But he's right-eh? That's strange… He's gone now." She sat back, her face still pale. 

Asako put a hand to her friend's forehead. "I don't get it. You should be feeling fine, Ryuuko. You've never been like this before."

"Seeing things is not a good sign," said Tomo sagely.

"He was there…" was all Ryuuko said, though her voice was soft and no longer assertive.

She had some peace for a few days, until one afternoon when she was sitting on the back steps trying to figure out her math homework. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up, expecting to see her mother. Instead, she found herself facing two now eerily familiar green eyes staring into hers. She scooted back with a yell. "Who are you? Why do you keep showing up?" she asked hurriedly.

Slowly, the boy reached out his hand towards her. It was open and unthreatening, almost like he wanted to touch her cheek or her hair. 

Ryuuko shrank back. "Stop…what's going on? What do you want?" He sighed, his hand dropping to his side. It was the first real sound she had heard from him. It was a terribly sad sound, sodden with as many hidden tears as flow in a river. 

R&R Don't forget I love reviews. And as always flames will be thrown into a river.


	2. Goodbye

Footsteps sounded behind the back door of the house. The boy started and looked towards it. Ryuuko followed his gaze. The knob turned and her mother peeked out. "Ryuuko? Are you okay? I thought I heard you call."

Ryuuko turned to look at the boy, but he had vanished yet again. "I…I don't know…" she said softly, despairing.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked her mother gently, coming out and sitting down. "You really haven't been looking all that well lately." She ruffled her daughter's black hair and then ran a hand through her own light brown tresses. "You can tell me."

Ryuuko looked away. "I saw someone today."

"Oh?"

"It seems like he wants to talk to me, but he never gets the chance. Something always happens, and then I turn around, and he's gone."

Her mother looked thoughtful. "That's strange."

"I know. I feel like I need to hear what he has to say, that it's very important, but I never get the chance."

"Do you know him?"

Ryuuko shook her head. "I have no idea who he is."

Her mother smiled softly. "I'm sure everything will work out in its own good time. Don't worry about it until then."

"Really?"

Her mother nodded. "Really."

"You believe me?"

"Of course. I learned when I was around your age that sometimes the most unbelievable things are the most real. I haven't forgotten it yet."

Ryuuko gave her a hug. "Thanks, Mom."

"Any time. Want some lemonade? I just made a pitcher full."

"Sure. That sounds great!"

As they walked inside, a thought hit Ryuuko. "Mom? Are ghosts solid when you touch them?"

Her mother smiled. "I don't know about ghosts, but I've definitely found that spirits are."

"Mom!" groaned Ryuuko, but she was laughing too.

That night she went out into the back yard where she had first seen him. "Whoever you are, I'm here. You can talk to me if you want," she called out softly. 

Only the normal night sounds answered her. She waited for what seemed a very long time before she went back inside. "He's not coming, Mom," she sighed as she shut the door.

"Oh, don't worry. Everything happens when it happens. Maybe he's just not ready yet. Or maybe he can't be called. You never know."

"Maybe. I wish I could find out what he wants, though."

He mother smiled. "And I wish I could find out where those socks I put in the dryer keep disappearing to. Life's full of mysteries, ne?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"What does he look like, anyways?"

"Mm…sort of sad like. He's got dark hair and green eyes and a white shirt. I think he wears shorts too, not long pants."

"I'll keep an eye out for him."

"Thanks. I don't think you'll see him, though."

"Well, it doesn't hurt to be on the lookout, now does it?"

"I guess not."

"That's right. Now get to bed. You've got school tomorrow."

"Yeah. Oyasumi."

Ryuuko walked into her room with a sigh. "I wonder if anyone else will ever see him. Maybe I'm just losing it." She sat on the floor, her back resting against the wall and her knees drawn up to her chest. She closed her eyes, only to open them and see a certain familiar form sitting before her. Out of instinct, she jumped back, forgetting that the wall was behind her. It met her head with a solid thump, causing her to clutch the back of her head and curl up a little with pain. "Itai…"

The boy seemed to smile slightly, as if remembering something long past, and then he reached out his hand towards her. His fingers actually brushed her bangs this time. "You…your hair changed color," he said softly, his first spoken words.

She started at his voice. It was deep, with a natural tone of power, yet gentle all the same. Slowly she shook her head. "It's always been like this," she whispered.

His hand withdrew quickly, confusion turbulent in his deep eyes. "But…Ogino…?"

She shook her head again. "Not Ogino, Okawa. Okawa Ryuuko."

He drew back a little farther. "O…Okawa??" Pain joined the confusion on his face. "How…?" He reached out his hand and slowly traced her features, never quite touching her: the way her ponytail hung, the locks of hair that hung down and framed her face, her bangs. 

Moved by the sadness on his face, Ryuuko crept forward a little. "What's wrong? Can I help you somehow?"

"I'm looking for somebody," he said softly. "I made a promise a long time ago, and I have to keep it."

"But why did you come here?"

He didn't seem to be listening. "The thousand fathoms," he murmured softly to himself. 

She realized suddenly that he was fading before her very eyes. "Wait! Don't go!" She reached towards him out of instinct as if to restrain him from running away. To her shock, her hand went right through him as if her were nothing. She could even see her fingers protruding from the back of his head. 

Then he was gone.

She sat there for a while, staring, breathing hard, her eyes wide. Finally she took a deep breath and slumped against the wall. "This is too weird."

Ryuuko was quiet all next day, and disappeared outside as soon as her homework and dinner were done. Her mother watched her sitting outside on the grass. It worried her a little, but she sighed and left it alone. Slowly, she gathered up the laundry, trying to think of whom the person her daughter had spoken of could be. Absently, she rifled through the pockets of each piece of clothing to make sure nothing that wasn't meant for water would go through the wash. Her fingers closed on something hard in the pocket of Ryuuko's shorts. A sudden wind roared around the house, but she didn't notice. Her eyes were glued to the thing her daughter had found days before. The shorts tumbled unheeded to the ground. Slowly, she reached into her own pocket and pulled out an identical object. Realization dawned in her eyes.

She burst outside to see her daughter facing the boy she had described before. Only, he was no stranger. Slowly, she walked forward. The boy's eyes widened. Ryuuko didn't understand; how could he know her mother? 

Ryuuko's mother stepped forward. "Nigihayami…" she said softly, "Kohaku Nushi."

As if understanding the ritual in it, the boy looked solemnly up at her. "O…Ogina Chihiro…" He blinked as if there were tears pricking at his eyes. "I'm too late."

Ryuuko noticed with a shock that tears trickled from her mother's eyes as well. "Never…never too late, Haku. I've always waited." She swallowed. "Only, I am a mortal. I'm not eternally young."

"I can't take you away now…"

She shook her head slightly. "No. I'm Okawa Chihiro now, with children of my own."

"I'm sorry, Chihiro."

She smiled at him. "No, you kept your promise. I got to see you again."

_Again??_ Ryuuko's head was spinning.

The boy nodded slowly. "And we will never forget."

"Never."

"Nothing is ever forgotten."

"Nothing." She sighed. "Where will you go, Haku?"

He wiped his eyes. "I wander now… But most often I watch the children. Life runs like rushing rivers through their veins."

"You will watch over my children, won't you?"

"For you, Okawa Ogina Chihiro, I will."

"Thank you."

"And goodbye."

The tears ran afresh down her face. "Yes… Goodbye."

The wind sprang up once more, and as Ryuuko and Chihiro watched, the boy became a dragon, a dragon that yet wept, and soared into the sky. For a moment, he was a shining white ribbon against the stars, and then he was gone.

"Goodbye," Chihiro murmured, her had opening slightly. Two white dragon scales slipped from her palm and fell in unison towards the ground. 

But they bounced apart as they landed.

Finished. R&R anyways. It'll make me happy, not to mention updates. 


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